Sample Red for R5, Trouble with Steel Bar Screws

Since it was a nice day out, I decided it was time for a red paint test for my R5-D4 overlays that I'll be applying to droid #2. I picked up a can of Rustoleum Apple Red to see how it would look.

First, I grabbed a scrap piece from the skins and applied white primer, before the paint test.



Well, I like the result so far.



I debated whether to clearcoat, and in the end, I decided I at least wanted to see how it looked on the scrap piece.



It's hard to tell in this picture, but it does add a bit of a reflection, similar to the blue, and it should help protect the red undercoat. So I'll be clear-coating my red.



In the evening I decided to try attaching the #10 1/2" wood screws that are meant to help further secure the steel bar segments that are glued inside the R5 dome. This did not look too promising, as I now see that the holes are so close to the edge of the dome lip that the screws would almost certainly break through the wall inside the dome. Still, I decided to give it a try.



And sure enough, for some of the steel bar segments, that's exactly what happened. When I tried screwing the screw in place, it started tearing through the inner wall. In this case I pulled the screw out, but the damage was done. As far as damage goes though, this is of the more harmless variety.



In other cases, I was able to attach one of the two screws semi-successfully, but even then the inner wall was starting to buckle.



And there were a couple of cases where I was able to get both screws in successfully.



In all, I only got six of the twelve screws in place. Two bars have no screws, two have one screw each, and the other two have both screws in place. I'll have to trust the Gorilla Glue to hold the bars in place that don't have screws to assist it. The glue certainly seems to be holding fast.

Screw location was a bit of a balancing act, because if I had located the screws further from the center of the dome, I also risked having them burst through the outside of the dome, which really would have been a problem. Still, it looks like I could have done a little better.


Next, it was time to see how things looked on the droid itself. The screws were installed intentionally long. With the Rockler bearing secured to the frame, and the dome plopped down, the screws go down until they hit the top of the wooden frame. (This was a particularly difficult shot to get from inside the dome, with the dome on).



The dome floats above the skins by about 3/4".



So I need to cut the screws down by about 3/4", and then add nuts to the screws to have them rest on the top of the Rockler bearing. Hopefully I can start working on that soon.